He was widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The Witches Rune (Chant)
byDoreen Valiente
Darksome night and shining moon
Hearken to the Witches' Rune.
East and South, West and North
Hear me now, I call thee forth.
By all the powers of land and sea
Be obedient unto me.
Wand and pentacle, cup and sword
Hearken ye unto my word.
Cord and censor, totem and knife
Waken ye all into life.
By all the powers of the Witches' blade
Come ye now as the charge is made.
Queen of Heaven, Queen of Hell
Send your aid unto my spell.
Horned Hunter of the Night
Work my will by magick rite.
By all the powers of Land and Sea
As I will, so mote it be.
By all the might of moon and sun
As I say, it shall be done.
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Witches Rune 13 Blue Stones
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente
Valiente at a Wiccan altar at Brighton in 1962
Born January 4, 1922
Mitcham, South London, England
Died September 1, 1999 (aged 77)
Brighton, England
Occupation Wiccan Priestess, Writer
She was a highly influential figure in the neopagan religion of Wicca, being a High Priestess of Gardnerian Wicca and an initiate of Cochrane's Craft. She was initiated into the craft through the early Bricket Wood coven, led by Gerald Gardner.
Witches Rune Emblem
The Charge of the Crone
Hear the words of the Grandmother of Time:
She who has been known as
Hecate, Erishkagel, Cerridwen, Kali-Ma,
Anna, Perenna, Spider Woman,
and many other names
- some feared, and some loved,
but none ever ignored.
She it is who brings wisdom and
the awareness of eternity.
She has been the Maiden, and remembers that joy.
She has been the Mother, and recalls that pleasure.
But age has changed her,
and taught her the mysteries of
the Wheel that is ever turning,
the Wheel that is life, death, and rebirth.
She is the whirling tornado, the erupting volcano,
the rising tidal wave, the trembling of the earth's crust.
With age comes an understanding of the past,
and a glimpse of the future.
For, in the turning of the Wheel,
the past is the future,
and the future is the past.
She is the Learned One, the Teacher,
the Bringer of Inevitable Change.
She is the Dark of the Moon, the Hidden One,
the invisible unknown that lies ahead.
But do not fear her for she is not malicious,
and her touch, however harsh, is love.
Only in ignorance is she scorned and reviled.
Those who do not know her,
parody her as the ugly old woman
whose powers were said to blight crops
and sour the milk in the cow.
It is fear that turns her age into abomination,
her wrinkles into hideous deformity,
and her voice into an evil and manipulative cackle.
For those who sought power over the earth were afraid
to face her wisdom and her unalterable truth.
But in the old days, we sat at her feet to learn the most ancient lore.
From her came the knowledge of the healing herbs,
and the chants and songs that shaped our lives.
She sat in honour at our councils, our marketplaces, in our homes.
She governed our governing, and interpreted our laws.
She gave focus to our changing seasons.
She was our teacher, our oracle, our promise of rebirth.
